Al DeWitt, Daniel's father, (center) is comforted by relatives and friends as he walks past the media. Berkeley hills slaying suspect Daniel Jordan DeWitt was arraigned Wednesday February 22, 2012 for the bludgeoning of Peter Cukor in an Oakland, Calif. courtroom. less

Al DeWitt, Daniel's father, (center) is comforted by relatives and friends as he walks past the media. Berkeley hills slaying suspect Daniel Jordan DeWitt was arraigned Wednesday February 22, 2012 for the ... more

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

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A relative of slaying suspect Daniel DeWitt held a sign before his court proceeding. Berkeley hills slaying suspect Daniel Jordan DeWitt was arraigned Wednesday February 22, 2012 for the bludgeoning of Peter Cukor in an Oakland, Calif. courtroom. less

A relative of slaying suspect Daniel DeWitt held a sign before his court proceeding. Berkeley hills slaying suspect Daniel Jordan DeWitt was arraigned Wednesday February 22, 2012 for the bludgeoning of Peter ... more

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

Image 5 of 5

Berkeley hills slaying defendant ruled incompetent

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An Oakland man is incompetent to stand trial on a murder charge for allegedly using a ceramic pot to bludgeon a Berkeley hills homeowner, a judge ruled Thursday.

DeWitt's family has said he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia five years ago and has been in mental health facilities at least nine times.

Judge Sandra Bean of Alameda County Superior Court adopted the doctors' findings and ordered DeWitt to return to court April 13 to decide where he will be housed. Most defendants in Northern California who are deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial are sent to Napa State Hospital, Bloom said.

The finding means the criminal proceedings against DeWitt have been suspended in connection with last month's slaying of Peter Cukor, a 67-year-old business management consultant who was killed outside his home near Tilden Park. Prosecutors had charged DeWitt with murder and an enhancement for using a deadly weapon, a ceramic planter.

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He can be still tried if and when doctors declare he is competent.

DeWitt's mother, Candy DeWitt, said she was "very relieved that both doctors agree and that he's going to get treatment."

Cukor encountered DeWitt in his garage on Park Gate and called Berkeley police on a nonemergency line about 8:45 p.m. Feb. 17, authorities said. Cukor twice told DeWitt to leave, and DeWitt replied that he was a psychic and was looking for a woman named Zoey, police said.

The woman, whom DeWitt believes is his fiancee, does not exist, according to his family.

After the second confrontation, Cukor went to a nearby fire station to get help, police said. But the firefighters were out on a call, and when Cukor returned home, DeWitt allegedly bludgeoned him in the driveway.

Police have acknowledged that no one responded to the initial nonemergency call. The reason, they said, was that officers were responding only to higher-priority calls because of an Occupy Oakland march that was heading toward UC Berkeley.